Reciprocating plunger type bottle opener



Juy 19, 1951 H. L. BLUM RECIPROCATING PLUNGER TYPE BOTTLE OPENER Filed sept. 14, 1945 HOSMER L. BLUM.

INVENIOR.

`Patented .uly 1.0, 1.951

sans

RECIPROCATIN G PLUNGER TYPE. BOTTLE. OPENER Husmer L. Blum,

Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to Bowser, Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., av corporation of Indiana Application September 14, 1945, Serial No. 616,262

Claims. l Y This invention relates to a bottle opener. More specifically, it relates to a device for removing the crown cap which is commonly used on bot-- tles for soft drinks, carbonatedvwaters and other beverages.

The crown capy usually cfompcrises a metal crown which has a depending corrugated rim or skirt and a stopper of cork or other material, which lies parallel to the crown and is held against the opening of the bottle by crimping the rim down around a bead formed at the very top of the bottle.

Numerous lever type openers have been devised which use the top edge of the cap for a fulcrum and engage the lower edge of. the skirt to pry the cap oi the bottle. However, the

leverage thus exerted sometimes causes the neck of the bottle to break or crack suddenly, and the hand of the person opening the bottle is frequently cut.

It is an object of the invention to devise an opener which does not apply any stress on the bottle itself.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an opener which spreads the corrugated skirt of the cap to cause it to release the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide an opener which will quickly remove a crown cap.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a bottle opener which will besafe in its operation and will eliminate the breakage of bottles during the act of' opening them.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a bottle opener which is simple in construction and operation.

It is still another object of the invention to produce a bottle opener which is easy to operate.

These and other objects will appear from a study of this specication and the drawings which are attached hereto and made a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional View of the opener in' the normal open condition.

Figure. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-'2 of Figure 1, showing the. pawl and spring mounting means.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure l but showing the device in the partially-operated position, in which the pawls have moved inwardly and have engaged theskirt of the cap'.

Figure 4 is a view of the device taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure is a view showing the crown cap in the crimped-on position in solid lines and in the opened condition, which results from the' complete actuation of the opener, in dashed lines.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral I represents generally the body member of the opener. This member is preferably a casting and comprises a bell 3, a central hub 5 which is coaxial with the bell, and a plurality of radially directed webs or spokes 1 which join the bell and the hub. Two diametrically opposed pairs of handle supporting lugs 9 project from themember substantially parallel to the axis of the hub.

The hub is provided with a bore II and' a counterbore I3 of larger diameter and greater length than bore II. A plunger I5 comprising a head I1 which is adapted to slidingly t thev counterbore and a stem I9 which slidingly ts in the bore II are mounted in the hub, and a compression spring 2| is disposed inv the-counterbore, is supported on the wall 23 of the'hub and supports the head I1.

The stem I9 extends through the bore II and has xed thereon an abutment or push plate 25. This plate is provided with a circular, axiallydirected ridge or bead 21, which serves as a f'ul-V crum for the crown of the cap as it is distorted and which is preferably made as small in di` ameter as possible, so as to afford ease of operation of the device, but which must not be small enough to enter the opening of the bottle. The apex of the bead is directed away from the-hub and coaxial with it. The bead ofthe abutment contacts the crown portion 28 of the cap while the pawls, later to be described, engage under the corrugated skirt portion 30 of the cap. The skirt is crimped over and aroundv the bead 32 of the bottle.

Plier type handles are formed by bell crank levers 29 which are supported one between each pair of lugs 9 by means of a pin 3|. The long arm 33 of each lever is suitably formed as a'handv grip, and the short arm 31 is provided with a rounded projection 39 which bears on the head I1 of plunger I5. The head projects beyond the counterbore I3 for this purpose. The short arm of each lever extends beyond the projection 39 as at 40 and is adapted to contact the boss or abutment 42 to limit the inward stroke of the lever. A projection 44 extending in the opposite direction from the pivot is adapted to contact the land or stop 46 to limit the outward stroke of the lever under the action of spring 2| and plunger I E-as is clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3.

The webs or. spokes 1 are bifurcated at their outer ends as shown at 4| in Figure 2 especially.

A gripping pawl or puller 43 is preferably formed of flat, strip stock and has a hole 45 formed in one end. This end is inserted edgewise between the arms 4l so that its flat side lies against the flat surface 41 which is disposed between arms 4|. A screw 4S having a shoulder 5l is screwed into the web. The opening 45 of the pawl loosely receives the shoulder. A compression spring 53 surrounds the shoulder and is confined and compressed between the pawl and the head of the screw.` The screw is inserted from the exterior of the bell through an opening 54 therein.

Each pawl is provided with an offset bend 55 and an inturned gripping portion 51, which is preferably concaved as shown at 59 (Figure 4).

Operation tom and the opener is moved down over the crown cap until the latter is contacted by the pusher plate or abutment.

The operator then squeezes the hand grips 35, forcing them toward each other. The projections 35i on the arms 37 engage the plunger I5. The hub and the pawls 43 are moved longitudinally (upwardly) relative to the plunger I5 and the plate 25. As this occurs, the offset portions 55 of the pawls and the periphery of the plate move out of position, the pawls are moved toward the axis of the hub by springs 53, tilting on. the shoulders 5i, and the inturned ends 51 of the pawls move beneath the corrugated skirt of the cap.

Further squeezing of the handles moves the pawls axially until they come into engagement with the skirt as shown in Figure 3, and additional movement causes Vthe crimped over rim of the cap to be bent outwardly and upwardly to release the bead on the top of the bottle. The cap is distorted from the shape shown by full lines in Figure 5 to about the shape shown in dotted lines. The cap is usually bent about the line of Contact between the bead 21 on the abutment and the cap. As the cap edge is moved upwardly and outwardly, the pawls are free to follow it because the springs 53 yield.

As soon as the cap is removed and pressure on the hand grips is relieved, the spring 2l will restore the parts to their initial position (Figure 1), and the cap will fall or can be shaken free of the pawls and can be disposed of.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the form, structure and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, applicant does not desire to be limited to the specic embodiment disclosed herein primarily for purposes of illustration; but, instead, he desires protection falling fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is: Y n l. In a crown cap puller, the combination of a body member having a central axis and having radial arms, a plurality of relatively wide, thin, axially-extending, inwardly-facing pawls each having a flat side abutting the end of an arm and pivotally mounted on said body member by pins passing loosely through the pawls and entering the ends of said arms to swing toward and away from said axis, a plunger mounted for movement axially of said body member and means on said body member for moving said plunger and said pawls relatively.

2. In a device for removing a crown cap from a bottle, said cap having a substantially flat crown to close the opening in a bottle and, depending therefrom, a corrugated skirt which is crimped about the top of a bottle, the combination of an abutment comprising a substantially circular bead, having a diameter greater than the opening in the bottle, engaging the crown portion of a cap, pawl means having hook-like end portions engaging the skirt, means for supporting said pawl means and abutment means for movement relative to each other and means for moving said abutment and pawl means relatively toward one another to distort the crown and to uncrimp the skirt of the cap from the bottle.

3. In a device for removing a crown cap from a bottle, said cap having a substantially flat crown to close the opening in a bottle and, depending therefrom, a corrugated skirt which is crimped about the top of a bottle, the combination of an abutment comprising a substantially circular bead, having a diameter greater than the opening in the bottle, engaging the crown portion of a cap, pawl means having hook-like end portions engaging the skirt, means for supporting said pawl means and abutment means for movement relative to each other, means for moving said abutment and pawl means relatively toward one another to distort the crown and to uncrimp the skirt of the cap from the bottle, and an open-ended bell mounted on the supporting means, said bell having a diameter greater than that of the cap, the neck of the bottle, the abutment and the pawl means so as to preclude contact of the bell therewith, said bell being disposed so as to shroud said abutment and pawls.

4. In a device for removing a crown cap from a bottle, said cap having a substantially at crown to close the opening in a bottle and, depending therefrom, a corrugated skirt which is crimped about the top of a bottle, the combination of an abutment comprising a substantially circular bead, having a diameter greater than the opening in the bottle, engaging the crown portion of a cap, a body member, means for slidably mounting the abutment on said body member, pawl means mounted on said body member having hook-like end portions engaging the skirt, plier-type lever means on said body member for moving said abutment and pawl means relatively toward one another, to expand and uncrimpthe skirt of a cap, and an open-ended bell mounted on said body member and disposed about and shrouding said p wl means and abutment means, said bell having its open end disposed adjacent the hook-like end portions of the pawls.

5. In a crown cap puller, the combination of a body member having an axial bore, a plurality of pawls disposed about the axis of the bore and substantially parallel therewith, each pawl terminating in a hook-like end portion whichprojects toward the axis of the bore, a plunger slidably mounted in the bore, a bell mounted on the body member, disposed to enshroud the body member and pawls and terminating adjacent the end portions of the pawls, lugs on the bell extending beyond the bell, plier-type handles, means for mounting said handles on said lugs for pivotal motion relative to the body member, said handles extending substantially parallel with the axis of the bore, means actuated by the handles for moving the plunger relative to said pawls and stop means on said body member disposed outwardly from said lugs in the path of movement of said handles to limit the divergence of said handles.

6. In a device for removing a crown cap from a bottle, said cap comprising a crown portion and a skirt, the combination of a hub member having an axial bore, a plunger mounted in the bore for movement axially thereof, an abutment carried by said plunger adapted to engage the crown portion of a cap, a plurality of bifurcated spokes radiating from said hub, each spoke having a flat pawl seat disposed transversely thereof between two bifurcations, a plurality of relatively wide, thin pawls having hook-like end portions for engaging the skirt of a cap, said pawls being mounted latwise on the seats, a bell attached to said member and surrounding it and the pawls, means, comprising pivot shafts disposed substantially parallel to the spokes and extending through the pawls, seats and bell, for mounting one end of each pawl between the bifurcations of a spoke so that the pawl will pivot parallel to the spoke about its mounted end, means for yieldingly urging the pawls to pivot toward the axis of said bore and means for reciprocating said plunger.

7. In a device for removing a crown cap from a bottle, said cap comprising a crown portion and a skirt, the combination of a hub member having an axial bore, a plunger mounted in the bore of the hub member for movement axially thereof, an abutment carried by said plunger adapted to engage the crown portion of the cap, a plurality of bifurcated spokes radiating from said hub member, an open ended bell fixed to said spokes, a plurality of flat pawls mounted at one end atwise against the ends of said spokes so as to extend substantially parallel with the hub and to pivot about said mounted end, toward and away from the axis of said hub, said p-awls having their free ends turned inwardly toward said axis to engage under the skirt of a cap, said bell extending around said pawls and beyond the ends thereof so as to enclose them, two bell crank handles mounted on said bell, hand grips on one arm of each crank and a projection on the other arm of each crank, said projections being adapted to depress said plunger.

8. In a device for removing a crown cap from a bottle, said cap comprising a crown portion and a skirt, the combination of a hub member having an axial bore, a plunger mounted in the bore of the hub member for movement axially thereof, an abutment carried by said plunger adapted to engage the crown portion of the cap, a plurality of bifurcated spokes radiating from said hub member, an open-ended bell fixed to said spokes, a plurality of flat pawls mounted at one end on radial pins, flatwise against the ends of said spokes, in the bifurcations, so as to extend substantially parallel with the hub and to pivot about said mounted end, toward and away from the axis of CTI said hub, said pawls having their free ends turned inwardly toward said axis to engage under the skirt of a cap, said bell extending around said pawls and extending beyond the ends thereof, two bell crank handles mounted on said bell, hand grips on one arm of each crank and a projection on the other arm of each crank, said projections being adapted to depress said plunger, stop means on said other arms and abutments on said hub adapted to be engaged thereby to limit the stroke of each bell crank.

9. In a crown cap puller, the combination of a body member having an axial bore and having radial arms surrounding the bore, each arm being bifurcated at its outer end and having a pawl seat disposed within the bifurcation, an inwardlyfacing, flat pawl extending substantially parallel to the axis of said bore and mounted flatwise on each seat, a bell extending beyond said pawls and enshrouding the bifurcations and pawls, a pivot pin passing through the pawl and entering said body substantially perpendicular to the pawl seat, a spring disposed between the pawl and bell for urging the pawl inwardly, a plunger slidably mounted in said bore and means on the bell for moving said plunger and pawls relatively toward and away from each other.

10. In a crown cap puller, the combination of a body member having an axial bore and having radial arms surrounding said bore, each arm being bifurcated at its outer end, a number of inwardly facing flat pawls, each having a hook-like end portion and each mounted on said body member ilatwise in a bifurcation and substantially parallel to the axis of the bore, a bell enshrouding the pawls and arms and terminating adjacent the hook-like end portions of the pawls, a plunger slidably mounted in the bore and means on the bell for moving the plunger and pawls relatively 1 toward and away from each other, said hook-like ends comprising inturned gripping portions disposed substantially in a common plane which is substantially perpendicular to the axis of said bore, said portions being concavely recessed across the width so as to fit around a bottle.

HOSMER L. BLUM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 357,584 Dudley Feb. 15, 1887 612,924 Grenier Oct. 25, 1898 627,669 Jenkins June 27, 1899 736,964 Hanson Aug. 25, 1903 1,240,657 Bolick Sept. 18, 1917 1,248,923 Ryczek Dec. 4, 1917 1,440,992 Harzke Jan. 2, 1923 1,490,149 Vaughan Apr. 15, 1924 1,521,786 Moss Jan. 6, 1925 1,596,960 Becchetti Aug. 24, 1926 1,704,600 Green Mar. 5, 1929 1,831,149 Thayer et al Nov. 10, 1931 1,853,846 Borchert Apr. 12, 1932 

